1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for to generating a database which occurs transparently to the user and, more specifically, to a method of and apparatus for searching the database and for selecting a desired channel therefrom by inputting alphanumeric search criteria, such as a call-sign identifying the desired channel.
2. Description of Related Art
Systems are known in the art whereby a user can search a database and make selections therefrom by inputting alphanumeric information. For example, in many businesses having telephone voice mail, a caller who calls after normal working hours is greeted by an automated message system. If the caller does not know the telephone extension of the party he is calling, the caller may press keys on the keypad of the phone which correspond to the letters of the last name of the called party. Once enough letters of the last name have been input by the caller so that the name is recognized, the extension associated with that name is selected and dialed.
In the field of subscription television, there also has been proposed a method for selecting desired television channels using an alphanumeric call-sign of the desired channel. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,045,947 to Beery relates to a television receiver and remote control device, at least one of which contains a ROM in which a lookup table is stored. The numeric keypad on the remote control device also includes alphanumeric characters (like a touch-tone telephone keypad). According to Beery, the user manually programs the ROM to fill in the lookup table with all information necessary for the user to select any available channel. For example, assume that the user wishes to select the channel on which the xe2x80x9cCable News Networkxe2x80x9d is located. The user must first program into the ROM the call sign associated with the desired program, i.e., xe2x80x9cCNNxe2x80x9d. The user must then determine, using a conventional television guide or the like, the channel on which the desired program, e.g., xe2x80x9cCNNxe2x80x9d, is being transmitted. Next, the user must program into the ROM the number of the channel corresponding to xe2x80x9cCNNxe2x80x9d.
This requirement of Beery presents a substantial problem to the user, however, especially in view of the television satellite broadcast systems available today, in that the user must determine and program into the ROM the alphanumeric key sequence of the call sign and corresponding channel number for each of the several hundred available programs. This is not only very time consuming to the user, but also is prone to error in the transcription or entry of the data by the user into the ROM.
Accordingly, there exists in the art a need for a method and apparatus for generating a database which occurs transparently to the user. There further exists a need for a method of and apparatus for searching the database and for selecting a desired channel therefrom by inputting alphanumeric search criteria, such as a call-sign identifying the desired channel.
The present invention provides a method of and apparatus for generating a database which occurs transparently to the user and further provides a method of and apparatus for searching the database and for selecting a desired channel therefrom by inputting alphanumeric search criteria, such as a call-sign identifying a desired channel. More specifically, as broadly described herein, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for generating a database in a memory comprising the steps of receiving program identifying information from a service provider, the program identifying information comprising service provider search data and information describing a channel on which a program is transmitted, and generating in a memory a database as a function of the channel identifying information and at least some of said service provider search data. Preferably, the present invention further comprises the steps of receiving user-input search criteria, parameters, determining whether the user-input search data corresponds to the service provider search criteria, and selecting a channel identified by the channel identifying information if the user-input search criteria corresponds to the service provider search criteria.
In accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention, there are provided a method and apparatus for selecting a desired channel comprising the steps of receiving program identifying information from a service provider, the program identifying information comprising service provider search data and information identifying the channel on which the program is transmitted, receiving user-generated search criteria, comparing the service provider search data with the user-generated search criteria, and selecting a channel corresponding to the program identifying information if the service provider search data corresponds to the user-generated search criteria.
As described in detail below, the method and apparatus of the present invention provide important advantages. For example, because the program identifying information is received from the service provider, the present invention eliminates the need for the user to manually compile and program into a memory a lookup table to effect the selection of desired channels. Moreover, the present invention permits the generation and searching of a database on the basis on any of a plurality of alphanumeric search criteria, thus providing heretofore unavailable flexibility to the user.